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Boston, MA -- (SBWire) -- 04/29/2014 --Fuelled by the world's third largest proven conventional gas reserves, Qatar has positioned itself as the leading global exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Rising competition, led by liquefaction growth in Australia, the US and potentially East Africa, will pose a challenge to Qatar's hold on the global gas market later in the decade. Qatar is responding by making increasing efforts diversify its economy through expanding its downstream and petrochemical sectors. Furthermore, the country is growing the international presence of Qatar Petroleum International to offset what will likely be slow growth in domestic oil and gas revenues given the absence of plans for an expansion of LNG and GTL export capacity.

We highlight the following trends and developments in Qatar's oil and gas sector:

- Qatar is expected to see reduced investment in its oil and gas sector. The moratorium on the North Field is expected to remain in place until at least 2015, cutting the prospects for new gas related projects over the short term. We anticipate this to be a longer-term trend as Qatar attempts to diversify its economy in order to rely less on oil and gas. The majority of upstream investment will focus on oil field redevelopments.
- Qatar's upstream prospects are increasingly limited with the North Field moratorium in place and no expansions for liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes and gas-to-liquids (GTL) in the pipeline. Qatar is facing growing challenges from the expansion of LNG liquefaction facilities in Australia and eventually the US and East Africa. Greater LNG volumes on the international market could put downward pressure on prices over the longer term.
- We expect Qatari gas production to reach 155bn cubic metres (bcm) by the end of our forecast period in 2023, up from around 148bcm in 2014. Production will remain largely flat following the completion of the second phase of the Barzan gas project in 2015. The vast majority of new production brought online will be directed towards the growing domestic market, where we forecast consumption to grow from 22.6bcm in 2014 to around 32.5bcm in 2023. We do not anticipate a significant increase in export capacity over the forecast, with LNG cargoes and GTL product deliveries remaining flat.
- The first phase of the Barzan gas project, the final sanctioned development on the North Field, is nearing completion. The project will begin production in 2014, helping meet growing domestic gas demand while also boosting LPG production. LPG production will also rise following the completion of the Laffan Refinery phase II.
- In May 2013 Qatargas awarded the EPC contract for the Laffan Refinery Phase II to Chiyoda Corporation. The second phase will double capacity at the refinery and allow for a greater volume of condensate to be processed into higher-end products. The 146,000 barrel per day (b/d) facility is due to be operational in 2016.

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